Rubavu - President Paul Kagame, yesterday, called on Rwandan leaders to put their country first and commit to transforming the lives of Rwandan people.

The Head of State made the call at the beginning of the 8th Leadership Retreat, the first of his new mandate. He urged the delegates to work to the best of their ability, exceed their targets and support each other to fulfil their contract with the people.

More than 200 government officials including ministers, ambassadors, mayors and heads of key agencies, as well as senior members of the legislature and judiciary are gathering in Rubavu to agree on how to speed up delivery and progress to Vision 2020.

President Kagame said that Rwanda faces significant and unique challenges that call for consistent and extraordinary efforts on the part of leaders.

He encouraged the country’s leadership to focus on results and be radical in their approach to tackling barriers to swift progress in implementing government programs, so that this retreat serves as an impetus to delivering real change.

"This retreat is not about restating the worthwhile commitments we have made; where we have reached our targets, there is no reason not to do more, and where we are experiencing challenges we need to figure out what needs to be done differently to change the lives of Rwandans.”

President Kagame also reminded the leaders of their duty to be more effective advocates of the work that they do and to talk about the changes that are occurring in Rwanda

"We all have individual responsibilities, but we also have a shared task of telling Rwanda’s story as we work to achieve our vision and shape the future of our country”.

Over the next three days, the retreat will focus on job creation; improving quality of education; increasing electricity generation; increasing levels of investment; and improving local and international understanding of Rwanda’s governance.

On Friday representatives working on the various priorities will present resolutions aimed at rapid implementation to make breakthroughs and achieve desired results in the coming year.

Ends